Variable-speed gear.



No. 786,845. PATENTE D APR. 11,1905. Q

' F. W. SGIHROEDBRI VARIABLE'SPEED GEAR.

. 7 APPLICATION FILED 0OT.13,19Q3.

mvnwon UNITED STATES Patented April 11, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

VARIABLE-SPEED GEAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 786,845, dated April11, 1905.

7 Application filed October 13, 1903. Serial No. 176,869.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK WILLIAM SoHRoEDER, a subject of the Kingof Grea-t Britain and Ireland, residing at 9 Arundel street, Strand,London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inVariable-Speed Gear, of which the following is a specification.

Driving mechanism has been ;used in which a friction-wheelkeyed on acountershaft and capable of sliding thereon has been driven by a diskoperated by the motor, so that as the friction-wheel is-moved toward thecenter of such disk the counter-shaft is caused to rotate slower and asit is moved outward it is caused to rotate quicker. This method ofdriving has been found to be disadvantageous, owing to the rollingfriction beco'ming deficient.

This invention relates to improvements in I and relating tofriction-gearing of this character by which such disadvantage isovercome, and which is especially applicable to driving mechanism.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, partlyin elevation, of a two-speed gear constructed according to the presentinvention; and Fig. 2, an end elevation of the compound driving-disk,showing only some of the teeth.

Assuming that the shaft a is the drivingshaft and the shaft 1) the oneto be driven at variable speed, the driving-shaft is supported inbearings a and is arranged to be connected to the hollow axle c of thedrivingdisk 0 by means of a clutch, one member of which, d, is fixed tothe shaft (1, while the other member, d, is arranged toslide on afeather c on the axle of the disk, a forked lever cl engaging in agroove serving for this purpose.

On the shaft 6, the axis of-which intersects orthogonally the axis ofshaft a, is

mounted a pinion c, arranged to slide along the shaft on a feather a Aprojecting smooth band e on this pinion, preferably faced with leather,engages frictionally with the face of the disk '0, so that when thelatter is driven at a constant speed the speed of the shaft twill dependon the position of the pindirection of rotation of the'shaft b is re--versed. In order to overcome the most serious defect of this form ofvariable-speed gearnamely, the liability to slip between the disk andpinionthe latter has formed round its periphery on each side of thesmooth band 6' aring e of teeth, the diameter over the teeth being lessthan the diameter of the smooth band c. in it two or more rings of holesj, preferably elliptical, concentric with its axis and of a pitch equalto that of the teeth on the pinion e. Another disk, g, formed with asleeve having a keyway engaging with a feather on the axle c, isprovided with two or more rings of teeth f, corresponding in shape andpitch with the holes in the disk 0. Each tooth is preferably separatelyfixed to the disk g by passing its shank through a hole in the disk andsecuring it with a nut. A forked lever h, engagingin a groove h in thesleeve of the disk, serves to slide the latter on the hollow The disk 0has formed axle c and can be secured in two positions, in

one of which the elliptical teeth project through the holes f, so as toengage with the teeth in the pinion e, while in the other the teeth areWithdrawn flush with the disk 0.

The teeth may be lubricated by any suitable gear by damping thevibrations set up in the disk.

When the pinion is in gear with one ring of teeth and it is desiredtoput it in gear with another ring, the diskig may be drawn backward bymeans of its operating-lever before disconnecting the clutch df Thepinion c is shifted along its shaft until thegearteeth c are on theouter side of the ring of teeth f with which they are to be geared. Thedisk g is thrown forward to bring the teethf into the engaging position,and the pinion is then shifted inward to bring the teeth into theengaging position. and the pinion is then shifted inward to bring theteeth e into gear with the teeth f When this has been done, thedriving-disk is again coupled to the driving-shaft by means of theclutch d.

In order to insure that there can be no gearing up while thedriving-shaft is connected to the driving-disk, the forked levers h andb may be arranged to interlock in such a way as to prevent thishappening.

The pinion e may be caused to slide along its shaft by means of a leversimilar to that used for operating the clutch or the disk g, or anyother suitable arrangement may be employed which enables the pinion totraverse the full diameter of the driving-disk and to be secured in anyposition along its range. The two rings of teeth on-the pinion arearranged to engage with the teeth on the driving-disk, the one when thepinion is on one side of the center of the disk for forward driving andthe other when it is on the other side for reverse driving, as shown indotted lines in Fig. 1, in each case the row of gear-teeth e nearer thecenter of the drivingdisk being the operative teeth.

Having thus described the nature of this invention and the best means Iknow of carrying the same into practical effect, I claim 1. Driving-gearfor two shafts the axes of which intersect orthogonally, comprising apinion having a friction-band and a ring of teeth and arranged to slidealong one of the shafts, a fixed disk having its face in engage.

ment with the friction-band of the pinion, a clutch for connecting thefixed disk to the other shaft, two or more rings of holes in the fixeddisk concentric with its axis, the pitch of the holes being the same asthat of the pinion-teeth, a second disk coaxial with the first andhaving rings of teeth which pass through the holes in the first disk andare adapted to engage with the teeth of the pinion, means forwithdrawing the teeth on the disk out of gear with the pinion and meansfor sliding the pinion along its shaft, substantially as described.

2. In speed-gearin a disk having annular rows of holes, rings of teethcorresponding to the said rows of holes, mechanism for moving said teethendwise through the holes to the engagin or retracted position, a shaft,means for c utching the disk to the shaft, another shaft crossing theline of the diskshaft and having a friction-disk with sets of teeth oneach side thereof and mechanism for moving the friction-disk endwise ofits shaft, one set of teeth being arranged to engage the disk-teeth onone side of the center and the other set arranged to engage the teethwhen the friction-disk is on the other side of the center; substantiallyas described.

3. In speed-gear a disk, a pinion adapted to engage frictionally withthe said disk, gear-teeth on the pinion, a second disk, rows of teeth onthe second disk adapted to gear with the pinion-teeth, and means foradvancing and retracting the second disk, substantially as described.

4. In speed-gearing a friction-disk having an annular series of holes, asecond disk having teeth within said holes, mechanism for shifting thesecond disk to project or retract the teeth, and a friction-wheelarranged to engage the first disk and provided with teeth arranged toengage the movable teeth when in normal position; substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

FREDERICK WlhlilAill SCllltUllllllli.

Witnesses:

J. MILLARD, EDWARD GARDNER.

